Saving Rachel
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc, found in Chapter 1.
Chapter 3
The last thing Rachel remembered, before memory left her with just a void, was fire. The
fire that engulfed the car, when it exploded near her. But, also, the fire that seemed to
engulf her, as well, when her head hit that rock, and her whole body exploded in pain.
She didn't remember anything other than that. Didn't remember rolling down that hill.
Couldn't remember whether she screamed, or cried, or made no sound at all as her and
Simon's bodies were thrown by the impact of the explosion.
She only remembered the fire. And Simon's body, wrapped around her own, his harsh
breathing against her ear. The warmth of his nearness…the security of his arms… The
fire…
And then she remembered nothing. Before consciousness returned…she wouldn't even
remember that.
**** ****
When reality returned, it did so slowly. Rachel drifted up towards the light and life she
sensed beyond her eyelids, much like a swimmer drifts upwards towards the water's
surface. And if swimming was what she'd been doing, then Rachel much have been
swimming with her limbs weighted. Because her whole body felt heavy and sore…weak.
It took an amazing amount of effort just to flutter an eyelash…and then an eyelid.
And suddenly, Rachel's eyes were open and she was staring at the stained ceiling of a
dingy little motel room. Trying to make sense of what she saw.
Then she realized she was not alone. Because her view of the ceiling was replaced with a
face. A face that made her breath catch in her throat, and a small gasp passed Rachel's
lips.
He was talking to her, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. The blood was racing
through her veins so that she couldn't hear anything past the sound of its rushing in her
ears. Beautiful blue eyes…sharp and filled with worry…were meeting her own, slightly
blurred gaze.
That's when she realized she'd begun to struggle.
For some reason beyond herself, Rachel's arms and legs began to thrash seemingly on
their own. It made no sense to her. The beautiful stranger standing over her didn't seem
to represent any sort of threat. And Rachel's mind was still too weary to worry about that
anyhow. But her body was reacting as though trying to fight the man away, even as his
voice finally reached her ears, soothing and oddly familiar. He was holding her down as
easily as though she were a small child. And his words began to register in her mind…
"…chel? Honey, you've got to calm down. You're going to hurt yourself. Rachel…can
you hear me?"
Her last thoughts, before unconsciousness returned to take her once again…were:
Who's Rachel?
And who was the young man standing at her bedside, calling Rachel's name?
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc, found in Chapter 1.
Chapter 3
The last thing Rachel remembered, before memory left her with just a void, was fire. The
fire that engulfed the car, when it exploded near her. But, also, the fire that seemed to
engulf her, as well, when her head hit that rock, and her whole body exploded in pain.
She didn't remember anything other than that. Didn't remember rolling down that hill.
Couldn't remember whether she screamed, or cried, or made no sound at all as her and
Simon's bodies were thrown by the impact of the explosion.
She only remembered the fire. And Simon's body, wrapped around her own, his harsh
breathing against her ear. The warmth of his nearness…the security of his arms… The
fire…
And then she remembered nothing. Before consciousness returned…she wouldn't even
remember that.
**** ****
When reality returned, it did so slowly. Rachel drifted up towards the light and life she
sensed beyond her eyelids, much like a swimmer drifts upwards towards the water's
surface. And if swimming was what she'd been doing, then Rachel much have been
swimming with her limbs weighted. Because her whole body felt heavy and sore…weak.
It took an amazing amount of effort just to flutter an eyelash…and then an eyelid.
And suddenly, Rachel's eyes were open and she was staring at the stained ceiling of a
dingy little motel room. Trying to make sense of what she saw.
Then she realized she was not alone. Because her view of the ceiling was replaced with a
face. A face that made her breath catch in her throat, and a small gasp passed Rachel's
lips.
He was talking to her, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. The blood was racing
through her veins so that she couldn't hear anything past the sound of its rushing in her
ears. Beautiful blue eyes…sharp and filled with worry…were meeting her own, slightly
blurred gaze.
That's when she realized she'd begun to struggle.
For some reason beyond herself, Rachel's arms and legs began to thrash seemingly on
their own. It made no sense to her. The beautiful stranger standing over her didn't seem
to represent any sort of threat. And Rachel's mind was still too weary to worry about that
anyhow. But her body was reacting as though trying to fight the man away, even as his
voice finally reached her ears, soothing and oddly familiar. He was holding her down as
easily as though she were a small child. And his words began to register in her mind…
"…chel? Honey, you've got to calm down. You're going to hurt yourself. Rachel…can
you hear me?"
Her last thoughts, before unconsciousness returned to take her once again…were:
Who's Rachel?
And who was the young man standing at her bedside, calling Rachel's name?